Cynthia Reves has advised McKinley’s Newswriting class since the 2010-11 School Year. In August, she received the Journalism Education Association’s Medal of Merit, a prestigious award honoring current Journalism Education Association members who have made significant contributions to scholastic journalism.
She was nominated for the honor at the end of the 2024-25 school year. This nomination required a letter of recommendation, short bio, letters of support, clear images of the nominee, and work by or about the nominee. At the start of the 2025-26 school year, Reves learned that she was one of four educators recognized as award recipients.
Reves has always been interested in reading and writing, but her interest in journalism grew while in high school, where she wrote for her school newspaper, literary magazine and yearbook. At the time, the Watergate scandal and the movie “All The President’s Men” had greatly increased attention to journalism.
“Journalism was really sexy at the time because of Watergate in the late ‘70s. So it was a big time for journalism school. A lot of people who were interested in journalism went to journalism school,” Reves said.
After graduating high school, she went on to college to major in journalism, with the goal of becoming a journalist and traveling the world. She applied to some English-speaking newspapers in Europe, but did not get any of those jobs.
“I still wanted to travel so then I went to Japan to teach English … and my life just kind of took a different turn,” she said.
Reves taught in Japan as an English as a Second Language teacher for three years before moving to Hawaii to earn her master’s degree in teaching. She then became an English as a Second Language teacher at Ka’ewae Elementary School and Stevenson Middle School, before moving to McKinley. At McKinley, Reves taught English as a Second Language until a position opened for the Newswriting elective. Due to her background in journalism, she was selected for the role and began working with students to produce The Pinion.
“When I started there were only three, maybe four people on the staff. We were really really small,” Reves said.
When she first entered the world of teaching journalism, Reves did not know much about how to get students involved and recognized journalism outside of class, but was quickly able to make connections after discovering the Hawaii High School Journalism Awards.
In 2015, she co-founded the Hawaii Scholastic Journalism Association and now serves as the Hawaii state director for the Journalism Education Association.
Jacky Oasay (c/o ’26), a student who has been in Reves’ Newswriting class for three years and wrote a letter supporting her nomination, said she was not surprised that Reves won.
“She does a lot for journalism. She pushes her students to go testify, she makes sure that events happen in order for student journalists to be recognized, and for students to have an opportunity to explore journalism as a career, which is really important,” Oasay said.
Newswriting students describe Reves as dedicated and passionate about helping students develop as ethical journalists. This is reflected in another award she received in 2022, Big Island Press Club’s Torch of Light. This award honors individuals who show high commitment to public transparency, truth, and the public’s right to know.
“I think Ms. Reves really deserves all of these awards. Anyone who works that hard and pushes for those things should be recognized,” Oasay said.
Dominic Niyo (c/o ‘26), who has also been in Reves’ Newswriting class for three years, recalls his first impression of her as a freshman was that she seemed scary and intense. But after taking a break from Newswriting his sophomore year and experiencing other teachers’ styles, he realized that Reves is the way she is because she genuinely cares about her students.
“Some people don’t go above and beyond to help their students, but Ms. Reves is one of the teachers who does. She believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself, and that’s something I’m really grateful for,” Niyo said.
In April of this 2025-26 school year, Reves, along with two Pinion Staffers will be going to the Spring Journalism Convention in Minneapolis. Reves will be recognized for her Medal of Merit honor at the awards luncheon during this trip.
This article has gone through the following process: pitch, interviews, drafting, peer feedback focused on content/structure, revision, peer feedback focused on language/conventions/style, self-checked for ethics and fact-checked by sources. Student editors approve the article for publication.
